(or here’s a list of what launched yesterday that might deserve a closer look)

Project: Aldabas: Doors of Cartagena

Designers: Nathaniel Levan (Nantucket, New Bedford, Supertall), Joshua J. Mills (Big Easy Busking, Rocky Road à la Mode)

Artists: Josh Cappel (1960: The Making of the President, Belfort, Endeavor, Endeavor: Age of Sail, In the Hall of the Mountain King, The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire, Pandemic, Scoville, Wasteland Express Delivery Service), Juan David Vargas

Publisher: Grand Gamers Guils (The Artemis Project, Endangered, Endeavor: Age of Sail)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, hand management, tableau building

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “In Cartagena, Colombia, the doors speak. Not with words, but with the grandiose knockers that adorn them. In Spanish colonial times, the knockers announced your job and your social status with the design and detail. Lions, lizards, sea creatures, and hands proclaimed the homes’ occupants as soldiers, nobles, fishermen, and clergy. Aldabas is a puzzle-y tableau-builder in which you you seek to fill your neighborhood with the most influential citizens. On each turn, players will take actions to build their neighborhood or increase their wealth. Clever placement will unlock bonuses, but only if you build in the right way.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $27

All-In (w/shipping): $27, same as above

Campaign Ends: 5/18

Game Ships: June 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 146% with 13 days to go.

Project: Angel Fury: The Battle for a Human Soul

Designer: Daniel Fryxelius (Fleets: The Pleiad Conflict, Wilderness)

Artists: Daniel Fryxelius (After the Virus, Space Station, Wilderness), Isaac Fryxelius (Brawling Barons, Terraforming Mars, Terraforming Mars: Ares Station)

Publisher: Indie Game Studios (Crescent City Cargo, Die Macher: Limited Edition, Not Alone: Sanctuary)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, area movement, command cards, deck building, deck construction, dice, dice rolling, grid movement, hand management, income, miniatures, market, moving multiple units, mythology, push your luck, religious, solo/solitaire game, square grid, take that, variable player powers, wargame

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Take control of the forces of good or the hordes of evil. Command mighty seraphs or fierce tormentors. Each player begins with a starting deck customized by a unique general – either an archangel or arch-demon. Each turn, you will use your Command markers to move troops or initiate battles and then use the cards in your hand to modify those movements or battles – or build your turn around an epic Tactics card that provides even more value. You can use your resources to deploy more units, increase your hand size, or gain more Command markers. At the end of your turn, you’ll gain more resources if you control certain Areas – or even 1 Soul Point if you control the Human Soul. When either the good or evil side has 7 Soul Points – the game is over and the soul has been claimed.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $135

All-In (w/shipping): $135, same as above

Campaign Ends: 5/21

Game Ships: Mar. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 76% with 15 days to go.

Project: CATastrophe: A Game of 9 Lives

Designer: Josh Lee Norris

Artists: Jacqui Davis (Colosseum, Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia, Ex Libris, Stockpile, Viticulture, Viticulture Essential Edition), Jenny Parks

Publisher: The Original Sasquatch

Genre/Mechanisms: animals, card drafting, card game, dice rolling, fighting, hand management, humor, player elimination, take that

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Players start with 9 lives. Your goal is to survive the chaotic mayhem. The last cat standing is crowned champion. Power Cats will help guide you to victory with unique abilities. One second, you’re slapping down attack and curiosity cards, the next you’re rolling a die and playing fun catastrophic mini-games to determine your destiny. However, magical Yarn Balls may alter your fate. You are eliminated when you lose all of your lives. Beware of the villain, the Grim Reapurr, who is plotting your untimely demise and attempting to be the sole victor.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $41

All-In (w/shipping): $193

Campaign Ends: 6/4

Game Ships: Apr. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 558% with 30 days to go.

Project: Chai: Tea for 2

Designers: Dan Kazmaier (Chai), Connie Kazmaier (Chai)

Artists: Andrew Bosley (Blood Bowl: Team Manager – The Card Game, Citadels, Everdell, Love Letter, Mission: Red Planet Second Edition, Tapestry), Mary Haasdyk (Chai), Sahana VJ (Chai)

Publisher: Steeped Games (Chai)

Genre/Mechanisms: card drafting, card game, constrained bidding, dice, dice rolling, movement points, nautical, pick-up and deliver, re-rolling and locking, set collection, solo/solitaire game, transportation, worker placement with dice workers

Player Count: 1-2

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “As a standalone two player game in the Chai series, you’ll be using dice worker placement to build your field’s tableau. Navigate tea through different production steps with five unique action boards. Each round signals a new season of harvesting new teas as you specialize in matcha, bergamot, sweet teas and more. At the start of the game, players set the end game condition to 3, 4 or 5 completed tea clipper contracts. Victory points are also gained by completing tea crates, collecting blooming teas, tableau bonuses, and each merchant’s unique speciali-tea.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $54

All-In (w/shipping): $215

Campaign Ends: 6/4

Game Ships: Feb. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 191% with 30 days to go.

Project: Dark Rituals: Malleus Maleficarum Original Soundtrack

Designer: Filippo Chirico (The Order of Vampire Hunters)

Artists: Filippo Chirico (The Order of Vampire Hunters), Alexei Popovic (The Order of Vampire Hunters)

Publisher: Dark Gate Games (The Order of Vampire Hunters)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, area movement, dice rolling, fantasy, fighting, horror, medieval, miniatures, modular board, one versus many, scenario/mission/campaign game, team-based game, variable set-up

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: This campaign includes a “1 Hour custom-composed Soundtrack to play Dark Rituals: Malleus Maleficarum in a thematic atmosphere.” Plus the ability to pick up Dark Rituals, “an asymmetric ‘One vs Many’ miniatures board game for 2 to 5 players with an expansion for a solo mode where one player controls the Witch Master. In “One vs Many,” a team of people control a small band of Heroes defending villagers from a single player controlling the vile Forces of Evil. All players manage a pool of stamina that is used to pay for their character’s actions. Gameplay is dynamic with little downtime: turns alternate between the two forces with a player on each side taking one or two actions each turn, so long as they still have stamina.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $145

All-In (w/shipping): $189

Campaign Ends: 5/21

Game Ships: July 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 7206% with 15 days to go.

Project: The Great Race 2: Wild West and Far East

Designer: Maxence Vaché (The Great Race)

Artist: François Launay (The Great Race)

Publisher: Platypus Game (The Great Race)

Genre/Mechanisms: card drafting, deck building, end game bonuses, exploration, network and route building, pick-up and deliver, racing, transportation, worker placement with different worker types

Player Count: 2-8

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “The Great Race 2, Wild West and Far East has everything you need to play, but is completely compatible with The Great Race, if you have that, too. Adventure is at hand. With the basic box of TGR2, you will compete on the roads of the United States and Asia. And also the places without roads. Play as the leader of one of the 5 new crews: American, German, Russian, Chinese, or the surprise crew to be revealed during the campaign. For each of them, you will have all the necessary equipment to experience the intensity of the race: a beautiful miniature, dashboard, assistants, tokens, and more. The two courses differ by geography, of course, but also by its tiles provided in a dedicated bag, as each route “uncovers” itself in a new combination, so no race will be like the last one or the next one.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $46

All-In (w/shipping): $117

Campaign Ends: 6/1

Game Ships: May 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 77% with 26 days to go.

Project: Gutterfall: Bounties

Designer: Sam Geddes

Artists: Wadim Kashin (Cry Havoc, Ivion, Steamwatchers), Klaudia Bezak (Rage of Empires), Jonathan Lee

Publisher: Geddian Games

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, card game, deck construction, deduction, dice, dice rolling, fantasy, fighting, finale ending, hand management, science fiction, targeted clues, turn order: role order

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Gutterfall is a massive underground city teeming with a wide variety of diverse lifeforms. Ranging from bipedal lizards to hulking sentient mushrooms and everything in between. The streets are alive with ancient magics and futuristic technology that mixes together in a state of barely controlled chaos. You take the role of a skilled bounty hunter, who after losing their soul to a demon has a chance to redeem themselves by finding and capturing an elusive bounty from amongst Gutterfall’s leading criminal Supremacies. To accomplish this you must first guide your character through Gutterfall’s many districts collecting smaller bounties and fighting other players to earn money, upgrades and clues that will help you identify your true target. The First player to identify and defeat the Supremacy will collect the bounty and free their soul, winning the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $84

All-In (w/shipping): $84, same as above

Campaign Ends: 6/3

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 9% with 28 days to go.

Project: ICE

Designers: Bragou, Samson F. Perret

Artist: Léonard Dupond

Publisher: This Way !

Genre/Mechanisms: exploration, modular board, science fiction, worker placement with different worker types

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Players are archeologists exploring tiles they can remove. There are 5 levels of tiles in the game. The first one corresponds to the ice sheet level. The second, third and fourth represent surface, intermediate and deep artifacts levels. The last one is the edifice level. Archeologists dig these tiles in order to collect artifacts which gave them reputation points. The ice sheet tiles removed by a player can be played as a helping action for him. The edifice tiles are game changing rules and represent legacy material to discover as players proceed. The game stops when a first edifice tile is fully discovered. Then players count their reputation points, which determine the winner.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $102

All-In (w/shipping): $142

Campaign Ends: 5/31

Game Ships: Apr. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 154% with 25 days to go.

Project: Kiwi Chow Down

Designers: Pepe Macba, Rubén Hernández Santillán (Dodos Riding Dinos)

Artist: Ivan Escalante (Dodos Riding Dinos, NecronomiCORP, War for Chicken Island)

Publisher: Detestable Games (Cooks & Crooks, Dinos Riding Dodos, Seat Wars)

Genre/Mechanisms: animals, area majority/influence, grid movement, humor, income, map reduction, miniatures

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Kiwi Chow Down is played over four seasons with each season having a different objective to earn rewards. Each season has three rounds and you can either build, move or feed depending on the cards in your hand and the strategy you want to adopt. When you build you claim benefits for your kiwi flock both immediately and at the beginning of each season. Kiwi birds are hungry and love to be fed. When you feed them, they grow and can push other smaller kiwi out of the way, or even off the island. Be careful though – too much food and they explode! Move your kiwi flock to strategic areas to outnumber your opponents. Use your leader or larger kiwi birds to push other players kiwis out of the way or off the board. At the end of each season place domain markers to claim your territory. Domain markers = victory points. When the game ends, the player with the most victory points wins.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $77

All-In (w/shipping): $147

Campaign Ends: 5/27

Game Ships: May 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 381% with 21 days to go.

Project: Monstrology

Designer: Andy Lubershane

Artist: Andy Lubershane

Publisher: Middle Brain Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, cooperative game, deduction, fantasy, party game, science fiction

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Monstrology is a fully cooperative card game, which you can also play competitively between two teams, a la ‘Charades’, suitable for gamers of all ages. Each round takes about 5 minutes, with a recommendation of at least 2 rounds per player. The game requires both sides of your brain to work together, as you’ll have to blend your imagination and deduction skills in order to succeed. Monstrology is about reaching into your friends’ and family’s imaginations, and letting them reach back into yours. At the core of the game are 84 illustrated imaginary monster cards, depicting some of the most beautiful, strange, unique monsters you ever encountered. The game also includes twelve taxonomy boards that allow you to categorize and identify these delightful, unsettling creatures.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $37

All-In (w/shipping): $37, same as above

Campaign Ends: 6/3

Game Ships: Nov. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 42% with 28 days to go.

Project: Sodalis

Designer: Austin Boyd

Artists: Rob Bowyer, Ddaddystar, Justin Estcourt, Aedel Fakhrie, Guillem Ferrer, Kelly McKernan (Hanafuda), Justin O’Neal, Dan Schutt, Sherbakov Stanislaw, Varguy

Publisher: Austin Boyd

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, action points, deck building, dice rolling, fantasy, hexagon grid, miniatures, roles with asymmetric information, team-based game, turn order: pass order, variable player powers

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A deck building strategy game inspired by tarot. In a solar system of planets, each player becomes the champion of their home world, competing for the light of their star, Sodalis. Teams of players take pre-built decks of cards and their Champions and customize them before competing against each other on a playing field.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $61

All-In (w/shipping): $61, same as above

Campaign Ends: 6/3

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 38% with 28 days to go.

Project: Vivid Memories

Designers: Matthew Dunstan (Adventure Games: The Dungeon, Elysium, Pioneer Days), Brett J. Gilbert (Chocolate Factory, Elysium, Mandala)

Artist: Andrew Bosley (Blood Bowl: Team Manager – The Card Game, Citadels, Everdell, Love Letter, Mission: Red Planet Second Edition, Tapestry)

Publisher: Floodgate Games (Bosk, Legacy: Gears of Time, Sagrada)

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, drafting, network and route building

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “During the game, players take turns collecting fragments of memories from moment tiles, placing them in their “brain” board to weave a tapestry of colored threads. Using abilities at the end of each round to cleverly create connections, players are rewarded for how they store memory fragments while working toward completing “core memories,” which give repeated benefits each round. Through their journey, players store important moments in their memory bank — gaining new abilities and new opportunities to score — all while working to collect fragments and moments that match what they aspire to be.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $55

All-In (w/shipping): $55, same as above

Campaign Ends: 5/21

Game Ships: Oct. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 190% with 15 days to go.